The connection of the brain to the mind remains one of the most
persistent mysteries in philosophy and neuroscience. Georg Northoff
proposes a new approach to the so-called mind-body problem, drawing on
an insight from physics: time structures all objects and events in the
world, and all objects and events are in dynamic relationship. This also
shapes the brain as it is part of the dynamic of the world as whole.In
Neurowaves Northoff posits that the entire world is structured by waves
of time and argues that the passing of these waves through our brains -
neurowaves - produces mental experience. The brain's neural waves
transform into mental waves; time and its dynamics are shared by brain
and mind as their common currency. As in physics and biology, that
radically changes our view. Copernicus showed how the earth moves and
that its movements are just a tiny part of the universe's passage of
time. Darwin showed that the human species is one among many species
passing through evolution's timescales. Northoff calls for another
Copernican revolution, replacing the mind-body problem with questions
about the temporal-dynamic relationship between brain and
world.Illustrated with vivid examples from different facets of the
physical and biological world, Neurowaves provides captivating insights
and an innovative, entertaining unravelling of the temporal connection
of brain and mind.
